Second coal mine to reopen in northeastern B.C.

VICTORIA — A mining company in northeastern British Columbia has started hiring as it prepares to reopen the Wolverine Mine on Monday.

Conuma Coal Resources Ltd. says the reopening of the mine 15 kilometres west of Tumbler Ridge is expected to create 220 jobs.

That’s in addition to 170 jobs that were created when Conuma Coal restarted the nearby Brule Mine in September, just months after purchasing both properties and a third coal mine in northwestern B.C. from Walter Canada.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines says Conuma expects to have the Wolverine Mine operating at full production levels by April, exporting 1.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal annually.

Skidding coal prices forced Walter Canada to shut down its Tumbler Ridge-area mines in 2014, barely three years after acquiring them.

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Don McPherson said the mine’s reopening is welcome after hard times for the community.

“The opening of the Wolverine Mine by Conuma Coal is the best Christmas present Tumbler Ridge could have asked for,” McPherson said in a news release. “We have had a tough three years, and this will put people back to work and improve our economic outlook.”